Steel Magnolias

Enough time has passed for Steel Magnolias to work on stage, and certainly containing the action to Miss Truvy’s beauty parlour makes for a more compact and dare I say it better piece of work. Without the clutter of the menfolk too, this really becomes a fine play, that will make you laugh and make you cry in equal part. Miss Truvy states early on that there is no such thing as natural beauty, and as a purveyor of hair, nails and make-up she knows best. It takes a firm hand to play Truvy right and Denise Welch reminds us that she has such a hand. When not playing celebrity she is a damned fine actress (although one wishes that her first few costumes fit her better, only in act two does she get a costume that fits).

Cherie Lunghi is excellent as the hard nosed business women and professional widow Clairee, glamorous and wise, she plays the role with skill and grace. Cheryl Campbell’s Ouiser is hard-core bitter and hysterically funny. Isla Blair has the hardest role as M’Lynn and she too pulls it off with great skill. In fact all six actors manage to deliver some of the funniest lines written about life and of course death, whilst never descending into black comedy. It’s dark for certain but the play is a serious study of friendship and unlike the film, excellent as it was, does not veer toward the mawkish.

So much praise for the ‘older’ members of the cast would suggest that they dominated, but not so. They all gave both Kacey Ainsworth and Sadie Pickering the space to play their roles well. All said, a finely balanced piece of ensemble acting.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 30 April 2012

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